Recidivism

Recidivism

SOC. 360
Introduction:
The topic I chose to research is the judicial system and rehabilitation. Many of us refer to this as recidivism. I chose this topic because I feel this is a problem that needs to be addressed. From a minority’s view, I have seen too many young men go to jail, most of them for drug possession or gang affiliation. Some of their crimes deserved a lot of time while others fell victim to the judicial system. I have personally sat in a court room and witnessed the judicial system at work. I see these young men being represented by Public defenders whose entire agenda is to make a plea bargain rather than defend based on the idea of “You’re innocent until proven Guilty”. These young men are so naive to what’s going on, they ask their public defender how should they plea, and after the plea, there seems to be a minor victory for getting less time in jail than the prosecutor originally asked for. The young defendants are now tagged with a felony and seem unaware of how critical the tag of Felon will be for the rest of their lives. Being a felon and a minority in this society will not allow you to reap the benefits that society has to offer. You will not become a productive member of society and will be classified and stereotyped in a negative manner. The expectations that society has for the criminal justice system, is to punish and rehabilitate individuals who commit crimes. There is an enormous disparity between rehabilitation and incarceration rates. In this paper I will try to show that prisoners are no more than a number in the system and basically society is not interested in rehabilitation..

Talbot, Margaret, (2003). Catch and Release. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), 10727825,
Vol. 291, Issue 1
In the journal “Catch and Release”, I agree with the author’s opinion on the way prisoners become more violent than they were when they first entered the...